100 Things of Pros - 8: Thinky-things via letterzines - no girlfriends in season 4?!

[byslantedlight]

I've been slowly reading through some old letterzines this snowy weekend, The Hatstand Express, c1986, and in one of the letters Jane (of Australia) points out that by season 4 we don't see a single girlfriend in the eps! And I thought - isn't that an interesting thought!

So here's my list of season 4 eps (granted, Jane might have had a different bunch in mind - but not necessarily "transmission order", cos that only applies to the UK and she was in Australia. I think I remember that our eps were mostly shown in production order (from some research by kiwisue and constant_muse. Anyway - here's season 4, for me, and she may be right - after the first few eps, they do seem to fall out of girlfriends, don't they? Or...?

It's Only a Beautiful Picture...
Blood Sports - Doyle and Anita Carrebreros - but she's really part of the job
Hijack - girls from the ministry - but the lads seem to be dating them together?
You'll Be All Right
Kickback
Discovered in a Graveyard
Foxhole on the Roof
Operation Susie
The Ojuka Situation
The Untouchables
Cry Wolf - Bodie doesn't try to get off with Susan Grant!
A Man Called Quinn
Lawson's Last Stand
No Stone
Spy Probe

Has anyone else noticed this?! *g*

Comments

[gilda-elise.livejournal.com]

It seems to me it's come up before, but hell if I can remember where or when. But it makes sense doesn't it? They would have had to be together by then! *g*

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

I don't remember it coming up before at all, so maybe it was before my time? (Or someplace I'm not supposed to go... *g*) Or maybe in The Hatstand Express it turned into a long conversation that you're remembering and I've not got up to yet? *g* Either that or my memory has got really bad... eep!

It does make sense though - they've been through it all, and now they're together properly and don't need anyone else... *sighs happily*

[msmoat.livejournal.com]

Yep, it's one of those great things about Pros! *g* (I'm sure we've discussed this before on LJ, haven't we?) At any rate, it is a fun little ah ha! fact.*g*

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Hmmn - gilda_elise seems to remember a discussion before too, but I don't at all - maybe it was before my time? Or, as I said to her, somewhere I'm not supposed to be... *g* It was a complete ooooh yes - ah-ha! moment for me, when I read it in Jane's LoC! And so makes sense, cos by then our lads are together... *g*

[solosundance.livejournal.com]

Oooh, now there's an interesting one. And are the girlfriends pretty constant throughout the other seasons or do they come and go so to speak? A whole topic we could link in with the women in Pros research/discussion/rewatch :D

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Well, I guess they come and go to some extent in the other seasons (okay, we need a girlfriends post, don't we...) but they do seem rather to go in season four, unless I'm just forgetting them - and to be fair S4 is the one that I least watch... *g*

And yes, it totally links in with the women in Pros research/discussion/rewatch! Hmmn... maybe I should actually rewatch the eps, and look for the women... yeah... Excellent idea - thank you!

[constant-muse.livejournal.com]

oh, this is news to me!! how fascinating!

Hijack: no, Doyle is dating Deborah from the MoD. Her friend Amanda is dating the Eastern bloc diplomat.

Just musing, but does this contribute to the air of world-weariness of later eps? They can't even be bothered chasing girls (or at least pretending to)? More joie-de-vivre in the earlier eps where girls come and go, they compete for them, share them...

[constant-muse.livejournal.com]

also in series 4 (production order)
The first ep in series 4 was The Gun - Bodie's (ex?) Inger.

Wild Justice - the girl in the yellow jumpsuit appears to be Doyle's girlfriend, and Bodie is dating Jennifer Black.

Also the blonde girl Doyle leaves behind at the cricket match at the start of Bloodsports.

ETA: but your argument stands as The Gun and Wild Justice are the first two eps of S4, meaning the only identifiable girlfriend (as opposed to a female friend on a day out) from then on is Anita in Blood Sports, and there are none at all in the final 5 eps that were made in 1981.
I don't agree Anita is just part of the job, though, Doyle does seem to be attracted to her.

Which means Bodie's last girlfriend in canon is the prim Jennifer Black, who it seems to me appeals to him mainly as a status symbol, a trophy girlfriend if you like. And her pronouncement is
I should say Bodie doesn't have women problems. It's us women that have Bodie problems. . hmmm.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Ha - no, my post is based on the widely accepted and used idea of there being four productions seasons, not five - as per the dvds. I always go by dvd production order, cos it's the only order for which we have a consistent format to refer to easily. Everything else means we have to check posts somewhere, with dates etc, and that's far too much effort for me! The vast majority of us have the dvds, and the eps were originally planned as four seasons, so I am going with that! Plus that's what people used for years when I first came into Pros - watching via transmission order for the Great ProsWatch was a very strange and special thing to do! So The Gun and Wild Justice are both in Season 3. *g*

Hijack - I always think that Bodie's dated one of them before too, but you're right it's the villain who's dating Amanda in the ep. Bodie seems to know as much about Mandy as Doyle does though, in their conversation at the obbo. Although that reminds me, Bodie's allegedly late cos he's been sleeping in someone else's bed, so that's both of them dating in Hijack, if we accept that dubious evidence... *g*

Blood Sports - I'm never sure about the girl Doyle's talking to at the start of the cricket match, especially when he picks up Anita so quickly. And it's true, he does seem perfectly happy to be seeing her!

Hmmn - going by my dvd production order, I think it's implied at the end of Blackout that Bodie and Gerda might date (though he could just as easily turn her away)... oh, but then there's also whoever's bed he rolled out of in Bloodsports too... if that counts as dating, which I'd say it did... Later in the eps there's not even mention of girls they're dating, I don't think...

does this contribute to the air of world-weariness of later eps? They can't even be bothered chasing girls (or at least pretending to)? More joie-de-vivre in the earlier eps where girls come and go, they compete for them, share them...
I prefer the whole overworked-desperately-need-a-break-and-it's-showing-now-take-them-away-together-on-holiday theory! *g*

[constant-muse.livejournal.com]

The girl at the cricket match in Bloodsports might be Bodie's girlfriend, watching her bloke play? (along with Doyle, watching his bloke play...) But like the girl in the jeep with Doyle in Wild Justice, there is nothing to indicate these female characters are romantically involved with the lads.

Anyway, I think you've really hit on something.

Is it intentional change in their characterisation? more serious and sombre?
Or changing times - no longer politically correct to be so overtly chasing women for fun?
Certainly lends itself to a slash fic story arc!

[heliophile-oxon.livejournal.com]

Certainly lends itself to a slash fic story arc!

Yes indeed. I like to think of it as just another piece of evidence ... *g* (I like that icon, btw!)

[ladyhawke2.livejournal.com]

I watched IOABP last night and Blood Sports tonight, and sadly I think Anita was much more than just work. *mutter* I also prefer my lads to be exclusive so I have to stick with them getting together after the series, but I'll be interested in your findings! Maybe, even though not together, they are getting tired of dating women but not ready yet to say that they've fallen for each other?

It's amazing the lovely scene you get if you mentally rub out Anita in that scene where Doyle is kissing her, and add in Bodie instead. It's not just any old kiss, there is a -lot- of promise in it.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Anita was one of Doyle's last-ditch flings... *g* Nah - in my universe the lads liked women perfectly well, they just preferred each other deep down... but life is never that simple. And it makes for more interesting fic too! *g*